FROEBEL'S SIXTH GIFT
"The artistically cultivated senses of the new generation will again restore pure, holy art."
Friedrich Froebel.
"Life brings to each his task, and whatever art you select, algebra, planting, architecture, poems, commerce, politics,—all are attainable, even to the miraculous triumphs, on the same terms, of selecting that for which you are apt; begin at the beginning, proceed in order, step by step."
R. W. Emerson.
"The sixth gift reveals the value of axial contrasts."
W. N. Hailmann.
1. The sixth gift is a three-inch cube divided by various cuts into thirty-six pieces, eighteen of which are rectangular parallelopipeds, or bricks, the same size as those of the fourth gift, two inches long, one inch wide, and one half inch thick. Twelve additional pieces are formed by cutting six of these parallelopipeds or units of measure in halves breadthwise, giving blocks with two square and four oblong faces. The remaining six pieces are formed by cutting three parallelopipeds or units of measure in halves, lengthwise, giving square prisms, columns, or pillars.
2. The sixth is the last of the solid gifts, and is an extension of the fourth, from which it differs in size and number of parts. It deals with multiples of the number two and three also; with halves rather than with quarters or thirds, the "half" being treated in a new manner, i.e., by dividing the unit of measure both in its length and breadth, giving two solids, different in form but alike in cubical contents.
3. The most important characteristics of the gift are:—